Senior Year

Hone your self-marketing skills and dedicate yourself to finding and securing the job you want, or gaining admission to a graduate school that aligns with your goals. Below you can find detailed descriptions of these steps with corresponding links to relevant resources.

Update Handshake
Does your Handshake profile have your most current information and updated resume? Review your Handshake profile to make sure your career interests and geographic preferences are right. Check Handshake as least once a week to review new opportunities as they change consistently throughout the year.

Choose your Career Direction
Don’t worry if you haven’t determined what careers paths might interest you. Take one of our recommended self-assessments, such as the Strong Interest Inventory. Even if you know your intended career path, taking one of our assessments may help to confirm your decision. Explore possible career paths on Vault.com for information about careers and industries that might interest you and meet with a Career Counselor to discuss your options.

Prepare for your Job Search
Kick your job search into high gear! Do you have all your job search materials ready?

Prepare for face-to-face interviews on your own time with Interview Stream and practice in the privacy of your room. When you’re ready to try out your interview skills in person, schedule a mock interview with us.

Build your professional network by creating a LinkedIn profile and set up informational interviews with people in your targeted careers, industries and organizations.

Apply for Jobs
Once you’ve done your research and honed your job search skills and materials, it’s time to start applying for jobs. Opportunities are posted throughout the year on Handshake as well as Indeed.com. Networking is the top source of jobs. Attend career events and see a counselor to hone your networking skills and identify unique opportunities.

Plan for Post-Graduation
Life after Wake Forest may be daunting, but we can help you set the right path. If full-time employment isn’t your first choice for post-graduate life consider graduate school, working abroad or volunteering. Explore the OPCD graduate school webpage for additional information about graduate schools or set up an appointment with a counselor to talk about your post-graduation plans!

LinkedIn
Reach out to LinkedIn, personal, and alumni contacts for job search advice and information.

Reflection
In order to develop clarity, competence, and confidence in your career goals, reflect on the skills you developed from last year’s classes, internships, and experiences. Record your observations in a personal journal to use in your job search or strategy plan. Update your resume and LinkedIn profile with these observations.

Additionally, review and answer these questions on the attached Word document at the end of each semester and the end of the post-graduation summer in order to better understand your values, strengths, and interests.

Complete First Destination Survey

Each year, the OPCD survey graduating seniors regarding their plans for their “first destination” after Wake Forest – gathering information about graduate school and employment, geographic destinations, and more. Please click on this link to begin the survey, which should only take a few minutes.